Borehole inclination indicating device



May 13, 1952- 5, BROWN 2,596,759

BOREHOLE INCLINATION INDICATING DEVICE Fiied Dec. 11, 1946 I 2SHEETS$HEET 1 6415 E. brown IMENTOR.

BY il/QM ATTORNEY Patented May 13, 1952 BOREHOLE INCLINATION INDICATINGDEVICE Guy E. Brown, Houston, Tex, assignor of one-half to H. JohnEastman, Denver, Colo.

Application December 11, 19%, Serial No. 715,395

7 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in inclinationindicating devices.

In the drilling of wells, it is not unusual for the drill bit to bedeflected from its course during the drilling operation, such deflectionbeing caused by inclined strata or other causes. If it is intended thatthe well bore be drilled on a true vertical line this deflection resultsin said bore inclining from the vertical and in some instances,

successive deviations or variations may interfere from time to time asdrilling progresses so that the inclination from the vertical of thewell bore may be known throughout the drilling operation.

. Various types of inclination indicating devices,

generally known as drift indicators have been devised and are in generaluse. Most of these include some type of clock or timing mechanism whichis pre-set prior to lowering of the instrument into the well bore. Theclock or timing mechanism is adjusted so as to permit a suflicient timelapse before operation of the instrument to locate or position theinstrument at the desired elevation within the well bore. If theestimated time for lowering is erroneously figured or if for some-otherreason the instrument is not in position at the time that the clockmechanism operates to actuate the instrument the desirel.

record is not obtained and the instrument must be rerun. I

It is one of the objects of the present invention'to provide aninclination indicating apparatus or drift indicator device which isconstructed so as to entirely eliminate any clock or timing mechanismfor controlling the time of operation of said instrument, whereby theerrors which are incident to the use of such mechanism are eliminated.

An important object of the invention is to provide an improvedinclination indicating apparatus wherein the indicating mechanism iselectrically operated when an electrical circuit is closed; said deviceincorporating an improved means, which is .controlled from the surfaceof the well by the operator, for actuating the indicating mechanism,whereby positive operation of the instrument at the desired time isassured.

Still'another object of the invention is to provide an improvedinclination indicating apparatus, of the character described, wherein acircuit closing assembly is associated with the instrument and includestelescoping or movable members which are normally urged toward aseparated position to hold the circuit open; closing. of the circuitbeing accomplished merely by imposing weight upon the telescopingmembers to move the same toward each other, whereby the circuit closingmeans is operated to actuate the instrument and thereby obtain a recordof the inclination of the well bore in which said instrument isdisposed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved circuitclosing means which is constructed so that it may be readily combined oremployed with any electrically controlled inclination indicatinginstrument.

A still further ob ect of the invention is to provide a circuit closingapparatus for inclination indicators which involves connecting one sideof the electrical circuit with ground, said apparatus including aspring-pressed contact pin which is normally disengaged-from the outercase of the assembly and which is arranged, upon the imposition ofweight on the assembly, to move into engagement with said outer case tocomplete the electrical circuit and thereby actuate the indicatinginstrument;

A construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafterdescribed together with other features of the invention.

The invention Will be more readily understood from a reading-of thefollowing specification and by reference to the accompanying drawing,wherein an example of the invention is shown,

and wherein:

Figure l is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of theupper portion of an inclination indicating apparatus, constructed inaccordance with the invention,

Figure 2 is a continuation of Figure 1 showing the lower portion of theassembly,

Figure 31s a transverse, vertical, sectional view of the upperportion ofthe apparatus and illustrating the contact element in a position holdingthe circuit open,

Figure 4 is a similar view with the contact element in circuit closingposition,

Figure 5 is an enlarged, horizontal, cross-sectional view taken on theline 5--5 of Figure l,

and v Figure 6 is a plan view of the record member.

In the drawings, the letter A designates an cell battery I?) which ismounted within the up' As I illustrate,d,*the inclination indicatinginstrument;

per portion of ,the instrument ,heu s ing l includes a light bulb l2mounted within a suitable socket l3 which is disposed immediately be lowthe battery ID within the casing l I. A tubu-- lar plumb bob l4 mountedon thegusual gimbal; ring suspension [5 is located Within the instru-:

ment casing below the lamp [2. Suitable lenses l6 and H are mountedwithin the tubular plu' rnbbflb and when the electric lamp I2 islighte'dyalight beam is focused downwardlyjthroughEther-plumb bob onto arecord disk l8. The disk is disposed o within a carrier l9 whichisremovably threadedinto thelower end oi the instrument casing.

The :record l 8 is constructedof-printing out paper which is' arranged-to---be exposed :by

light." It will= be evident-that-the plumb bob :14 will constantly hang-in-'a'-vertic'al position and thus whenthe -ins trument' casin'g--l lis inclined within an inclined well bore-,the-ldwer endoftheplumb-bobwill be-oil center of the record disk.- Therefore,whenthelamp-is lighted and the beam is directed downward-1y through the-tu-- bular'plumb-bob a mark ordotM (Figure 6) will beformed on the diskThis mark-will, of course, be; oft centerof the disk and its positionwith respect 'to the center of the disk-will be repre sentative or thenumber of de rees of inclination ottheginstrumentcasing 'II andtherefore of the inclinationpf the welllborez; 'Ihebattery ID has onecontact Ida. electrically connected to the electric lamp and when theopposite side of said battery isgrounded, *a'circuit is closed'whichwill 11 1 1at v e l mp:

The foregoing instrument and its details of construction fare not novelthe instrurnent havingi been in use for "some time;v However; this typetof electrically ,actuated' instrument has in g thejpastjjbeencontrolled "in its operationby atiming or clock mechanismn As has beenstated suoha timing or clock mechanism is not positive inqthat errorsmay occur with-respect *tothe time of operation'of the instrument-sothat-in the instrument is located inthelower-endof an outer barrel orhousing 20' and saidhousing extends upwardly for some, distance abovethe top of the instrument. A contact plunger 2| has its lower endengagingthe upper contactylflb of; the battery [0 of the instrument Aand this plunger extends through asuitable-packing gland ,22 which isthreaded into the top of 'the casing ll of the inclination indicatinginstrument A. The upper portion of the plunger 2! extends into the lowerend ofan axial bore 2304 of atubular sleeve 23;. This sleeve is-iormedwith an externally threaded depending shanlc24 which threads into theupper end of the bore 20a of the outer barrel 2%; A tub' larinsulatingmember- 25 surrounds the plunger 2| and has its upper-end threaded intothe lower portion of the bore 23a of the tubular sleeve 23, whereby theinsulating member 25 is disposed within the bore of the outer barrel orhousing 20. Both the insulating member 25 and the tubular sleeve 23 haveinsulating material 26 disposed within their respective bores, h re y te n a 9 15 31 i e e tri a sulate'd therefrom; A suitableepacking ring 2!surrounds" the tubular sleeve 23' above its threaded portion and saidring packs off the joint which is made between the sleeve 23 and theuppenend of the outer barrel or housing 20.

In order to lower and raise the outer barrel 2il having the instrumenttherein through the wellboreg agtubular connecting or supportingsection" 28 surrounds the upwardly extending sleeve-123;; The section 28has the lower portion of its bore 29 of substantially the same diameteras the "outer diameter of the sleeve 23 so that said sleeve has aSlidingzfit therein. The upper portion'til 'ofi the bore ofthelsectiona28i is; slightly enlarged taproviddaninternal annular;shouldeni 3 I' within is said-i section and this; shouldem is adaptedtow-beengaged I by an rexternah flange '32 whichis io'rmedsomthe extremeuppenendzofithe tubular sleeve 23 The .upperendioflthe con nectingsection=2 it isattached to ia suitable sinker: bar '33 'which is:in'turn connected:with-the lower.-' ing -cable- 34;:

The a connecting or L supporting sections 2 8 is formed with an externalshoulder 1 35 which: is. located nearer ets lower end and r a a coiledspring r. 36-which surrounds' the lower-'end of the section: hasits'upper end engaging this shouldera The lower end of the' spring 36engages an external shoulder 3 T- whi'chiis form-ed at the supper-end:"of the outer barret or housing 2 0-iand=bbviously the spring 3 6exerts its pressure 'to constantly urge the ;connectingsection 2 8upwardlyand away; from the upper end gofithe barrel 'orhousingim Sincethe connecting-section =2&-is sli'dable uponthe tubular sleeve- 2341?willibe evident that the imposition of the weightof the sinker bar uponthe connecting section 28*wi11 cause saidisectiorr; to i move downwardlyinto engagement with -the" extreme upper end 38 'of th'e'outer-housing20- (Figure 4):, such' -movement being permitted by a compressing of thespring 3 8. In order to' pack off between the slida5ble" connectingsection 28 and the tubular sleeve 23,"-apair of packing rings- 39are-disposed --within-sui table= grooves providedon the sleeve andtheserings engage-the bore 29 of the connectingsectionr For --cont-rollingthe closing of the circuiwthat is,-for-connec ting the contact plunger2|, which engages the upper-batterycontact 101) to groundn a contactpin-40- is mounted within-the upperportion of the tubular sleeve 23The-contact pin is movableiwithin a -di-ametr-ioally extending opening"M -(Figure--5)f-which is formediin said sleeve and saidbore-issuitably-lined withinsulating material-42 to electricallyinsulate -the I pin fromthe metallic material-of-the sleeve.= A contactscrew- 43 (FiguresB and 4) is disposed'in the upper portion of the bore23a 0f the-sleeve 23 and has its upper end extending into thedidmetrically disposed boreor: opening; A-Jcontact dish 44-normallyengages the-screw 43to make electrical connection -therewithand a mod:

1 spring '45 is interposed 'between the diskend the l trically connectthe --contactscrew" 43 with the-= elongate contact plunger 2!, a coiledspring 46 is provided within the upper portion of the insulated bore23aof the sleeve 23, the upper end of said spring being connected to thescrew and its lower end engaging or connecting with the plunger 2|.

When the instrument barrel 23 having the instrument therein is suspendedfrom the connecting section 28, with the flange 32, on the upper end ofthe sleeve 23 engaging the internal shoulder 3| of the connectingsection, the contact pin I is had. Therefore, at this time and with theparts I in the position shown in Figures 1 to 3, the elongate contactplunger 2! which engages the battery contact and which has electricalconnection through the spring 46, contact screw 43, contact disk 44 andspring 45 with the pin 40 is not connected to ground, with the resultthat the electrical circuit to the lamp ii of the inclinationindicating-instrument A is not complete. It will be evident that as theassembly'is lowered into the well the parts will be in the positionshown in Figures 1 and 2 and the electrical circuit to the instrument Ais incomplete.

When the lower end of the outer barrel or casing of the instrument Astrikes the bottom of the well bore or engages a suitable landing plateprovided for the purpose within the well pipe, further movement of thebarrel is halted. By imposing the weight of the sinker bar 33 upon theconnecting section 28, said section will move downwardly with respect tothe tubular sleeve 23 and outer barrel 20, such downward movementcompressing the spring 36. When downward movement of the section 28 withrespect to the sleeve 23 and barrel 20 occurs, the annular groove orrecess '4'! in the section 28 is moved downwardly in a'plane below thespring pressed contact pin 40 with the result that the pin moves intoengagement with the inner surface of the bore 29 of the section 25, asis clearly shown in Figure 4. When the contact pin 40 engages themetallic inner surface of the bore of the section 28, this immediatelyresults in connecting the contact plunger 2| with ground and therebycloses an electrical circuit to the lamp E2 of the instru-- ment,whereby said lamp is illuminated and a record formed on the disk It. Itwill be obvious that the instrument A cannot operate until the barrel orouter housing 29 has been halted in its movement and sufiicient weightimposed upon the connecting section 28 to move it downwardly undertension of the spring 36. Therefore, the actual operation of theinstrument A is under the direct control of the operator at the surfaceand there is no danger of the instrument A being actuated prior to thetime that the instrument is properly located.

The operation of the apparatus is believed obvious from th foregoing,The device is lowered with the parts in the position shown in Figures 1and 2 with the instrument barrel 20 and its attache'd'sleeve 23suspended from the shoulder 32 within the connecting section 28.Lowering continues until the outer barrels movement is halted either'byengaging the bottom of the well bore or a suitable landing plateprovided for the purpose. During the lowering operation, the contact pin40 is located within the annular recess 4'! of the connecting sectionand no ground connection to the battery ID of the instrument A is had.After the barrel 20 has reached the limit of its downward movement,continued lowering imposes the bore of said sleeve and thereby connectone side of the battery 10 of the instrument A to ground, suchconnection being through the elongate plunger 2 l. The parts remain inthis position for a sufficient length of time to expose a portion of thedisk 18 and form the mark M thereon.

When it is desired to remove the assembly after the record is made, itis only necessary to lift upwardly on the cable 34. This results in are-engagement of the shoulder 3| with the flange 32 of the sleeve 23,whereby the contact pin is again returned into a position opposite theannular recess 41. This breaks the ground connection and again rendersthe instrument A inoperative. Continued lifting by means of the cablewill remove the entire assembly from the well bore.

It will be evident that a very simple control means is provided. Notiming or clock mechanism is necessary and the actual operation of theinstrument is under the control of the operator at the surface at alltimes. The device is simple and may be manufactured at a minimum costwith the various parts being rugged in construction to withstand thevibration and jar to which they are subjected during lowering andraising of the apparatus through the well bore.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory thereof andvarious changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in thedetails of the illustrated construction may be made, within the scope ofthe appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An inclination indicating apparatus for well bore including, atubular housing, an inclination indicating instrument for indicating andrecording deviation of a well bore from vertical mounted Within saidhousing, electrically actuated means including a source of electriccurrent mounted within the lower portion of the housing and adapted tooperate the instrument when the electrical circuit between said sourceand the instrument is closed, a tubular support surrounding and slidablyconnected to the upper end of the housing wherebyas'the housing andinstrument therein are lowered and raised within a well bore by means ofthe support, the Weight of the housing holds the same in its lowermostposition relative to the support, halting of movement of the housingwithin which the instrument is mounted permitting the support to slidedownwardly relative to said housing, a radially movable electricalswitch mounted in the upper por-v tion of the housing and electricallyconnected in the circuit of the instrument, the support encompassing theswitch and having an annular recess within'which the outer end of theswitch is normally disposed when the housing is suspended from thesupport and said housing and support are in fully extended positionrelative to each other, said switch being moved out of the "recess andinto contact with the Wall of the support to close'the electricalcircuit upon telescoping of the support relative to the housing, anelectrical connecting means extending axially through the be ween-t euit 7 V mea s tr ca ly nsulating e e ectr al non: es e-m ans mm thehousin .-inc tion indi a i appara us: f r. W ll? ores in l ding; aitubul nhou i e anflno i ae. tionindicating-instrument.iQr,indicineandree ord n devia io of a o we l. b re m.; e ;t 9e1..-

moun ed within sa housin ct call tusteel. means; din n. e t i irc it;

the upper end of thehousing and slidable withi n; the reduced portion ofthe bore, an, external j flangeontheupperend of the extension adaptedtoseat; upon the internal shoulder of the, support to suspendthe-housing :from the support, the connection allowingtdownward slidingmovement of the. support relative. to the housing, 'a-radially movableelectrical; switcha-, mounted. Within a.

transverse opening in the extension, conducting means extending from.the switch downwardly throughthe. extension andhousing to theinstrument. for electrically connecting the switch in theelectricalcircuitofthe inclination indicating instrument said switchcomprising a spring-.

pressedncontact normallypositioned within an annular recess inithesupport when thehousing issuspendedfrom the support, said contact movinginto engagement with the wallof the support tc-connect theelectricalcircuit to round andttherebyrclose .said circuit upon downward movementof thes upport relative to the housing.

3.; Acontrol switchmechanism for an 'electri cally operated inclinationindicating instrument including, a housing 'Within which the instrument;is; mounted a source of electric current, for

the instrument mounted in said housing, atubular support telescopicallyconnected with the upperend of the "housing, whereby the supportmanundergomovement relative to said housing, said support havinganannular internal recess in ts wall, a radiallysmovable contact membermgunted in the upper end of the housing andadapted to ,bedisposedwithinthe recesswhen the stipportns extended relativeto thehousing and adapted to move out of therecess to engage the ivalot-thesupport-when the support is telescoped witl'g respect to thehousing: and a contact plunger; having its; :upper end :electricallycon:

neoted--vith -the;contaot member and extending down ardly throughthehousing with its lower cod electrica ,1y connected with the source ofelectric -.current for electrically connecting the W current sourcewithin the housing with the rad1allymovable: contact plunger,- wherebywhensaidwplunger-engages. the wall offthe suprtw ietci cu t he nst umeos d. to

ee zetethee amee 4. Z -;cgrnbination with an electricallyoperatedwell-survey instrument having alight source, a tabulanpl umb hoband a record dish of printipgiout proof papenwith an electrical circuitforil ting the light souroeto project a beam of ing a-pair oftelescoping members one of which ha theiwell survey instrument mountedtherein we e plumetpaw-th diskemi ns as: eeetia emee r t, t h r-t l s on ;me e e e t qach h r ends: wit h e e tricall iconnectedli 1 I@Qtfidaltcii'fiuit jof the instrument and er ted =lqse sa ec i ci cuendtneree, by actuate said instrument when the members are:movedrelative to each other, said switch comprisingv a radial1y movablecontact adapted I to engage the wall of one of the members toco n- ;nectthe electrical circuit of. the instrument -,to

ground, saicl contact being, disengaged when the, members are in theirfully extended positionreh ative to each other and beingengagedwhensaidmem e re a de a e e h; o her-i ate; ane h rr s i a -.1 i i eiinet n ndetiee p ar -ree e well; bores including a tubular housing having a reeduced tubular extension extending fromdts up por end a tubularsupport-encircling the exten; sion and adapted-to undergo limitedtelescoping; movement with respect thereto, sealing means} between; theupper end of the extension and the; support, said'support having aninternal an nular recess therein, a radially movable contactmembermounted in the extension and disposed in therecess when the support andhousing are in an extended position and-adapted to engage the wall ofthe support when the support is te lescoped relative to the housing, anelectrically operated survey instrument mounted within the housing, asource of electrical current within the housing and electricallyconnected with the m strument, and an elongate plunger extending throughthe'housing and its extension and elec,

" trically connecting the source of electric current;

with the radially movable contact member.,

6; The combination with anelectrically open-o atedwellsurvey instrumenthaving a light source, a tubular plumb bob and arrecord disk of printingout proof paper with an electrical circuit'for illuminating the. lightsource tocproject a beam of light through the plumb bob onto thedisk'and: thereby form an indication representative ofv inclination, ofa control switch mechanism including, atubular housing having the wellsurvey instrument mounted in the lower portion thereof, an electricalconducting rod extending upwardly from the instrument axially throughthe housing and having its lower end electrically connected; to thewellsurvey instrument, means for electrically insulating the rod fromthe housing, a switch within the upper portionof the housingelectrically connec edwiththe upper end or the conductingrod, a tubularsupp-ort slidably se-. curedto the upper end of the housing and hav, ingmeans coacting with the electrical switch open and close the electricalcircuitto the sure vey instrument upon relative movement of the housingwith respect to the, support,- i

'7. An inclination indicating apparatusfor well bores including, atubular hmising,v a tubular support slidably connected with the upperpor tion of the housing and adapted to. undergo,

limited telescoping movement with respect-thereto, a switch contactmember mounted in the up per portion of the housing, means onthe support coacting with the switch contact member; p n-r at e ieev ment h trtand ha 12 ren-en cl a d switch-inacco dance.- with the position of thehousing andsupp ort an; electrically operated survey instrumentmountedwithin the lower portion of the housing,.a source of electriccurrent within the housing and elec: trically connected with the Vinstrument, an

9 10 elongate conducting rod extending through the UNITED STATES PATENTShousing and electrically connecting the source of electric current withthe switch contact member, Number N I Date and means for electricallyinsulating the con- 111871519 Gab/m June 20, 1916 ducting rod from thehousing 5 2,190,901 Wilcox et a1 Feb. 20, 1940 2,249,426 Jones et alJuly 15, 1941 GUY E, BROWN 2,414,702 Smith Jan. 21, 1947 2,449,704 JonesSept. 21, 1948 REFERENCES CITED FOREIGN PATENTS The following referencesare of record in the 10 Number Country i Date file this 7 14,780 GreatBritain 1915

